No-row zone: The Oregon Ducks swamp Minnesota 

There was a time when it seemed plausible that the Oregon Ducks could be the ones rowing the boat.

It was 2016, Oregon had just fired Mark Helfrich after a 4-8 season and the Ducks were looking to hire a head coach from outside the program for the first time in 40 years. Oregon wasn’t the job then that Oregon is now, meaning the Ducks had to look through a field of up-and-comers rather than established names to lead the next era of their program. Fleck’s camp didn’t hide the fact that the then-35-year-old Western Michigan coach had interest.

He was young. He was energetic. And for an Oregon program coming off the “Win the Day” era, Fleck probably had visions of 59,000 at Autzen Stadium all “rowing the boat” — Fleck’s signature slogan — together.

Of course, that didn’t happen. The Ducks went with Willie Taggart and Fleck ended up at Minnesota, where he’s since compiled a 64-42 record, won six bowl games and finally arrived with his fleet at Autzen Stadium for the first time on Friday with a 6-3 record in 2025, looking to sink Oregon’s playoff hopes.

But it took one drive to show that Fleck and his flotilla weren’t built for these Oregon waters in a 42-13 Ducks win.

The Ducks came for the boat by sea, torpedoing the Gophers with 179 yards and four touchdowns on the ground — including a Marshawn Lynch-like run from Noah Whittington, where the senior running back appeared to be stopped for a medium gain as he disappeared into a gang of Gophers, slipped out and scampered 40 yards into the end zone.

And under dry skies for the first time in a month, the Ducks got the green light to attack the Gophers from the air.

After Iowa and Wisconsin games where Dante Moore was a combined 22-of-36 for 198 yards and no touchdowns — while suffering a broken nose against the Badgers — Moore had clear visibility and couldn’t miss. The quarterback finished 27-of-30 for 306 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. His 90% completion rate set an Oregon single-game record for efficiency.

“It’s a great indicator of how the offense is operating,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “It’s really a team award. When you look at (Moore’s) success — he can’t throw it and catch it — and we had some guys that were doing a great job of catching it tonight.”

For the second week in a row, the Ducks were without their top two receivers in Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr., and while the Ducks continued to see receiver depth step up — Jeremiah McClellan had 36 yards and a toe-tapping touchdown — it certainly helped Moore that, in addition to the dry weather, he also had Kenyon Sadiq to throw to.

Oregon’s star tight end finished with career highs in catches (8) and yards (96) and scored a touchdown, his night highlighted by a diving grab on a 26-yard pass on Oregon’s first possession that set up a 1-yard Jordon Davison score for the game’s first points. The career night for Sadiq came after he missed the Iowa game with a nagging hip injury.

“Pre-game — I haven’t felt that good in a very long time,” Sadiq said. “I think having some time off allowed me to get my feet back under myself and my body feeling right again. I just knew I was ready to go from the get-go, and everybody knew that.”

The Ducks led 28–6 at the half, and while Minnesota tried to keep the game within reach in the third quarter with a second-half-opening touchdown drive, by then the Gophers had taken on too much water. The Ducks countered with touchdowns on their next two drives. And by the fourth, Brock Thomas came in — not out of necessity like he did against Wisconsin after Moore’s injury, but out of luxury.

Oregon’s backup quarterback went 3-for-3, as one of the few remaining pockets of students at Autzen Stadium gathered together in a section and began to row in unison as the clock ticked down on win No. 9 of Oregon’s season.

“At the end of the day, I love it,” Moore said. “We want to throw the ball. We want to run the ball. Whatever you got to do to get the win is important.”